rust repairs - sit down before you read this....!

[RG5]

My beloved Carrera is in for some restoration work to cut out some rust that has been lurking in there for some *unspecified* period of time.

There are two know problem areas, the RHS inner wall under the fender and the sills.

This is what we found when we removed the fender and scraped away a bit.



A bit of angle grinding and fabrication and welding, we now have this:



Today the mechanic started on the RHS sills. You know there is a problem when he calls on the mobile after you know he has started. "You better come back, the rust is more than I expected". We all know the rust you can see is only the tip of the iceberg.

So, after seeing this:



and this:



After the mechanic started grinding out the problem areas, we are now faced with this:

La-la-la-oooh!









In the words of Magnus Magnusson , "I've started so I'll finish" all we can do here is ride out the wave, cut it all out and weld in new metal and hopefully at the end of this journey I will have a pretty much sorted Euro Carrera that will be good for years to come.

Pretty much in every other aspect this is a great car mechanically and cosmetically,

There is something slightly alarming seeing your pride and joy cut to pieces, but I think what could be the situation 3 or 4 years down the track I'm really glad I am doing this now.

Will post some updated pics soon.

if anyone wants to dial out some free sympathy, I'm sure my 911 would appreciate it.

RG5.

[VroomGrrl]

Poor car! Went in to have a couple of cavities filled and ended up getting a bunch of root canals! Hope it all turns out well, and is not TOOOooo costly!

[Kevin Taylor]

Rust never sleeps!


K.T.
1973 911 E 2.4 MFI
1983 911 SC
1978 911 SC
1965 Devin "D" / 1967 912 Power Plant
1998 GMC Serra 4X4 Z71
John Deere LT166
Money Can Buy Happiness........Buy A Porsche......a

[Paulporsche]

Where are you located? Where is the car from?

[Rot 911]

You should try owning an MGB, I cut out and welded in more inner and outer sills and doglegs than I can remember. I could probably do them in my sleep.

[RG5]

I am located in Australia, the car is a UK Carrera but was imported in the late 90s.

[DaddyGlenn]

I have a few rust bubbles that I am trying to stay in denial about. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me awake at night.

[Ron.G]

Been there before. It's ugly but it really is not that bad of a job.
I bet if most people popped there fenders off they would see the same thing.

Good luck with the project. How did your front bumper supports look?

[RG5]

yeap - few rust bubbles and that is the starting point. This was picked up by my mechanic who gave a thorough look over the car when he first had it in for a service. Its when you start poking around you see the demons behind the surface. Mine is a long term view on the car so I would rather take the plunge now rather than later when the job is a lot more severe.

Bumper supports look OK. When you grind all the rust out, it looks bad at first but all is involved is a bit of skill with galvanized repair metal plate and a welder. Then it can all be put back together and refinished.

Still, you would want to be sitting down when you get the invoice. I think I will take my own chair just to be sure...

[gestalt1]

wow, i've heard that galvanizing has a limited life span but not sure i've seen rust that bad on an even an early car before. the nice thing about rust (?) is that you can get into those closed off areas and rust proof them and also the replacement metal is all new and sound when done. good luck!

[jh225]

What year is the car?

[JP911]

Look at the bright side, at least it didn't make it to the rear torsion bar tube. If that had happened, the engine and trans would be out and the car on a suspension jig.

[Macroni]

Originally Posted by RG5

I am located in Australia, the car is a UK Carrera but was imported in the late 90s.

Is this a 70s car?

[old man neri]

I do believe that is a 3.2 Carerra.

[emac]

I don't care what anyone says about driving her all year long. That is why I have a garage queen!

[Wayne 962]

That much rust on a 3.2 Carrera is odd. I'm guessing that it's a 1974-75 Euro Carrera or a Carrera 3.0 from 1976-77? Hard to tell from the photos...

-Wayne

[wolf]

Can all this be deleted please?

[Jagshund]

I can say with some degree of certainty that I know how you feel . . .



And all I wanted to do was fix a rust bubble . . .

[burgermeister]

Ouch! Not much else to say.

I thought I had quite a bit of rust in my LH rear fender-to-rocker area ... but it was clean by comparison.

The holy part was surprisingly thin ...


luckily, the area behind the fender was just surface rust.


Shade Tree fabrication of a decreasing radius bend using sophisticated metalforming equipment:




"Good as New"

[rnln]

I feel like some invisible bugs is crawling on my skin.